Enabling a New Level of Precision in a Model-Based Enterprise

The Big Picture

Turning a concept into a solution requires vision, persistence and the right collaborators. When those pieces click, the result can become an industry-changing capability that opens new pathways for connectivity and innovation.

For Lockheed Martin, that game-changing capability is the development of persistent identifiers - the missing link needed for a continuous digital thread across original equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

• What is a Persistent Identifier (PID)? PIDs are discreet digital tags that lay the foundation of the defense digital thread. They assign unique, unchangeable identifiers to a part’s features, such as the holes of a component and all of its related characteristics. These identifiers travel with the part through design, machining, inspection and sustainment.
  
  
• Why it matters: By advancing PIDs, we unlock data trapped in disconnected systems, stitching together the digital thread not only inside Lockheed Martin but also across the broader aerospace and defense ecosystem. Systems can now recognize the specific features and characteristics of a component and “talk” to each other more seamlessly—an essential requirement for a model-based enterprise powered by a continuous digital thread.
   

Collaborating to Innovate   

After exploratory discussions on capability and implementation timelines, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman partnered to accelerate the deployment of PIDs. The network was then expanded to key software partners—including Sandvik, Seco Tools, MasterCAM, Verisurf, Metrologic, Hexagon, Renishaw, InnovMetric, PTC, Siemens, Mazak, and Datanomix—so that every tool in the value chain can consume and publish the same identifier.

Our software partners provide that key ingredient of what it takes to move an idea and turn it into a design, then manufacture it, then inspect it to make sure the part is good. These key software partners own the different software programs that couldn’t talk to each other before, but now will have a standard PID solution so they can work together across the digital thread.

Strategic Perspectives

The collaboration driven together by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman demonstrates our shared commitment to work across the defense network to advance cutting-edge technical solutions. We’re driving data-informed decisions and transformational changes to infrastructure that are foundational for future technologies.

“Persistent identifiers give us a single, unbreakable link between design intent and “as-built” reality, tying every operational feature to its manufacturing and inspection data across the entire product lifecycle. This digital thread eliminates data silos, enabling real-time analytics that drive faster collaboration between engineering and manufacturing.

By embedding PIDs into our processes we reduce scrap, rework, and cycle time because we can use defect data to quickly improve product design for manufacturability. In short, PIDs turn operational intelligence into a strategic advantage that accelerates delivery and safeguards mission-critical performance.” – David Tatro, vice president of Production Operations, Rotary and Mission Systems

“The deployment and integration of persistent identification within our digital ecosystem ties data traceability to every step of the lifecycle and opens the door for AI to not only find data but ensure 100% accuracy. This capability positions our teams and partners to rapidly deliver solutions that protects warfighters and the nations they serve,” said Art Arsenault, director, engineering and manufacturing solutions, Northrop Grumman.
 

Dive Deeper

Collaboration among aerospace and defense partners and suppliers are critical to ensure we’re all working from the same playbook using this PID solution. Alignment based on industry standards that large primes like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman set for consistency help to keep the defense digital thread continuous for these benefits.

• Enterprise-wide data unlock: With PIDs creating unique labels for a part’s features and characteristics, data flows freely across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain and Finance. The result: shorter cycle times, higher production ramps, and continuous, scalable innovation.
• Ecosystem ripple effect: Defense contractors and suppliers all operate on the same PID framework, ensuring that every piece of data—whether generated in CAD, CAM, CNC, inspection, or sustainment—shares a common identifier.
   

Bottom Line

Persistent identifiers are the invisible glue that binds the entire aerospace and defense supply chain into a single, searchable, unchanged data fabric. By adopting PIDs, Lockheed Martin—and its ecosystem of partners and providers—gain a strategic edge: faster delivery, higher quality, and a resilient digital thread that can continuously adapt to the evolving needs of the warfighter.